Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
Sorry Again About The Multiple Emails
Sorry again for the multiple emails. This post is a test one being sent out by Edublogs staff to confirm the problem has been fixed. It’s another example of why I recommend Edublogs so highly — their customer service is unmatchable!
Prezi: “Syracuse: A Citywide Education Experiment”
Syracuse: A Citywide Education Experiment is a Prezi presentation (embedded below) by Sarah Sparks from Education Week. It’s on a pretty interesting effort in…Syracuse. It expands on the idea of community schools, and sounds great. I still have the same concern that I have with most community schools, however — that families might be viewed more as clients instead of partners. I’m adding this The
Sorry About Multiple Emails About The Last Post
Some of you who subscribe to this blog might have received four or five emails notifying you of the last post. Sorry about that — something in the email system went kaflooey. I hope that’s the first, and last time, for that problem.
Great Collection: “55 Best Back-to-School Articles for Parents”
Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell has posted a great collection of the 55 Best Back-to-School Articles for Parents. I don’t think you’re going to find anything like it anywhere else on the Web!
“Parents Get Testy Over Philadelphia’s New School Report Cards”
Parents Get Testy Over Philadelphia’s New School Report Cards is a new article about parents and the more and more discredited idea of giving grades to schools. Here’s an excerpt: “We’re using consultants to grade schools instead of spending more time fixing them,” said school activist Helen Gym. Several saw the report card as little more than a thinly veiled effort to use consultants to justify
Excellent Article On Teaching Making Home Visits — & It Features Our School!
Home visits help Sacramento families see college path is an extensive article in today’s Sacramento Bee that features the staff and families at our school. It’s a good one, and I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits.
The Guardian: Parents Complain About Not Getting Comments On Report Cards
School reports: could teachers do better? is the headline of a recent article in the British newspaper, The Guardian. Here’s how it begins: The school report is the traditional end to the academic year. But parents are more critical of them than ever: some say computer-generated comments are too bland and general, while teachers grumble about having to produce hundreds of reports in the midst of
“New Orleans Schools Face Complaint About Treatment of ELL Families”
From Education Week, another example of how NOT to encourage parent engagement: A new complaint alleging that some charter schools in New Orleans are discriminating against the non-English-speaking parents of Vietnamese and Latino students has been filed with federal civil rights officials. Announced earlier today, the complaint—brought by two Asian-American civil rights organizations—says that a
“How To Do Student-Led Conferences”
How To Do Student-Led Conferences is a good post by Pernille Ripp sharing how to organize student-led conferences with parents and teachers. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Parent Involvement Advice For Principals
Parent Outreach for Busy Leaders is an article at the Responsive Classroom website that offers basic, but good, advice on eight things principals can do to help promote good relationships with families. It’s worth a look….
“Community Learning Centers” In Cincinnati
Here’s a pretty interesting piece in the Huffington Post about community schools in Cincinnati. Here’s an excerpt: A little more than a decade ago, voters passed a bond levy making possible the rebuilding or renovating of every public school in the district. The promise to taxpayers was that the facilities would be much more than just traditional academic settings during traditional school hours.
Big Benefits From Home Visits In Jamaica
I’ve posted a lot about the importance of making home visits to families, pre-school parent involvement, and parent engagement in countries across the globe (you can find those posts here). Now, here’s a story that combines all of those elements. A report has recently come out on pretty amazing results that came from making home visits to families in Jamaica. You can read an article about it in th
“Do Schools Work Hard Enough to Engage Parents?”
Do Schools Work Hard Enough to Engage Parents? is a new and useful post by Peter DeWitt at Education Week. He shares some practical suggestions. Here’s how the post ends: Parental involvement is about involving parents in all aspects of the educational conversation. Not everyone will take part in it, but those who do may help stretch everyone’s thinking. We want to make sure that when our parents
The Best Education Blogs For Parents
10 Amazing Education Blogs for Parents is a helpful post from Ed Tech Review that I learned about from Starr Sackstein. I think they missed a few important ones, though, so I decided to make my own list. Let me know if you think I’m missing some: Parent Cortical Mass Raising Modern Learners Joe Mazza’s blog, eFace Today Our School: Parents As Partners ParentNet Unplugged from Parent Involvement Ma
Video: “Parent Involvement Matters”
Here’s a new video from PTO Today. There’s probably nothing new in that’s new to readers, but it’s short and to the point:
Video: “I Forgot My iPhone”
“I Forgot My iPhone” is similar to another video I’ve previously shared, Disconnect To Connect, about people’s inability to turn off their mobile devices. Like that one, I’m adding this video to The Best Posts About Helping Students Develop Their Capacity For Self-Control and will use it as part of a lesson on self-control.
Chemical Weapons & Syria
With the United States nearing intervention in Syria because of the recent use of chemical weapons, I thought I’d make some additions to The Best Resources On Chemical Weapons. May the tragedy befalling the Syrian people somehow end soon… You might also be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About What’s Happening In Syria. Here are two additions to the chemical weapons list: The Boston
YESTERDAY
Another Good Batch Of March On Washington Resources
Here are some more excellent additions to The Best Resources About The March On Washington: Witnesses to History, 50 Years Later is a great interactive from The New York Times. “Did You Know?” Myths and Facts About the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom is from Teaching For Change. What Do Asian-Americans Owe The Civil Rights Movement? is from NPR. PBS has additional multimedia resourc
Additional Resources About March On Washington Anniversary
Here are more resources I’m adding to The Best Resources About The March On Washington: The Washington Post has a huge amount of related resources. There’s an official March on Washington anniversary website with lots of info and multimedia. 50 Years Later, Youth Reflect on Race in America and MLK’s Dream is from The PBS News Hour.
The Best Commentaries On The New IB Theory Of Knowledge Teaching Guide
I’ve been publishing a series of commentaries on the new IB Theory of Knowledge teaching guide, and thought I’d bring them all together in one simple list: Attention IB Theory Of Knowledge Teachers: How Is The New TOK Guide Going To Affect How You Teach? Guest Post: Commentary On New IB Theory Of Knowledge Guide Guest Post: Commentary On New IB Theory Of Knowledge Guide From Author Of Bestselling
Guest Post From My Teaching Colleague On New TOK Guide
I’ve been publishing commentaries on the new IB Theory of Knowledge Teaching Guide: first, my own; then, from Canadian TOK teacher Brad Ovenell-Carter; next-up came an extended one by Richard van de Lagemaat, author of the most popular TOK textbook used around the world. Today, Chris Coey, my talented teaching colleague at Luther Burbank High School, is sharing this thoughts: I very much like the
USA Weekend Feature Article: “What teachers want you to know”
What teachers want you to know is a new USA Weekend feature article by Eric Sheninger and includes quotes from Josh Stumpenhorst, Amanda Dykes, and me. In it, I share three things that parents can do to help their child develop intrinsic motivation.
AUG 22
This Week In Web 2.0
In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth sharing, I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” It’ll be a short compilation of new decent sites that are worth noting, but maybe not necessarily worth a separate post and generally — though not always — not worthy of being on a “The Best…” list (let me know if you think I’m wrong in my assess
White House Infographic: Economic Effect Of A College Education
Though I’m not too thrilled with President Obama’s college plan that he announced today (it sounds like No Child Left Behind for higher education), the White House did come out with this nifty infographic that I’m adding to The Best Resources For Showing Students Why They Should Continue Their Academic Career (obviously, the top chart is more encouraging than the second one):
Infographic: “Americans’ Views of Child Labor Around the World”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources For The World Day Against Child Labor: by diagonaleigh. Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
Delusional School “Reformers” In California
Yesterday, at the end of my post on the new Gallup Poll showing public opposition to the school “reformer” agenda growing dramatically, I asked: The question is: What will “school reformers” do in response? Will they moderate their positions and come to the table to compromise, or will they double-down in self-righteousness and zeal (and get a lot more money from Gates, Walton, Broad, etc.)? It di
Even More Excellent Resources For March On Washington Anniversary
Here are more additions to The Best Resources About The March On Washington: Claiming and Teaching the 1963 March on Washington is from The Zinn Education Project. At 1963 March, A Face In The Crowd Became A Poster Child is from NPR. His Dreams, Our Stories is an impressive site from Comcast.
Video: “What Kind Of Asian Are You?”
This is not only a very funny video, but it’s also one that can be used in classroom lessons. I’m thinking specifically of IB Theory of Knowledge when we learn about perception. Thanks to Judie Haynes for the tip.
New Report: “The Science of Learning: How Current Brain Research Can Improve Education”
Photo Credit: hawkexpress via Compfight eSchool Media has just published a free sixty-page report titled The Science of Learning: How Current Brain Research Can Improve Education. I’ve only had a chance to skim through it, and it looks useful. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On “Brain-Based Learning.”
All My Ed Week Posts On Ed Tech In One Place!
Q & A Collections: Using Tech In The Classroom is my new Ed Week Teacher posts, and brings all my past posts on ed tech together in one place. I’m adding it to The Best Advice On Using Education Technology.
AUG 21
August’s (2013) Best Tweets — Part Four
Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I shared through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post. If you don’t use Twit
Quote Of The Day: “Complexity and the Ten-Thousand-Hour Rule”
Complexity and the Ten-Thousand-Hour Rule is a new short piece by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker. I don’t think there’s anything particularly new in it – if you’re familiar with what he’s previously written about the topic – but it’s worth a read. Here’s how he ends it: I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The 10,000 Hour Rule & Deliberate Practice.
Everyone Can Now Now Embed Posts From Facebook
This will come in handy for anyone who blogs — starting today, everyone can now embed posts from Facebook, like this: Post by Alinsky Now. It’s very simple to use — just click on the downward pointing arrow on the right side at the top of any post and you’ll be given the option to get that post’s embed code. I’m adding this info to A Beginning List Of The Best Resources For Learning About Fac
Infographic: “Worldwide Cellphone Etiquette”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures: Courtesy of: Repairlabs
Study: Appearances Matter
A new study has found that how people look — and not based on physical attractiveness – has a huge impact on how people are judged. Granted, that’s no huge surprise, but I was surprised by the context of the research. Researchers showed videos of performers in a musical competition. Some watched the videos without sound, some watched with sound, and some actually didn’t watch the video at all and
Facebook Announces Potentially Exciting Effort To Expand Internet Access — I Hope They’re Serious
Here’s a summary from TechCrunch about this morning’s announcement: Facebook has just announced a partnership with Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera and Qualcomm to launch Internet.org, a project aimed at bringing affordable Internet access to the 5 billion people without it. The companies will work together on data-compression technologies and cheap, high-quality smartphones to make the
AUG 20
A Collection Of Useful Recently-Published Interactive Maps & Charts
I’ve been accumulating some quite useful interactive maps and charts that have been published recently, and thought I’d bring them together in one “miscellaneous” post: This Amazing Map Shows Every Person in America is an article in Slate about a fascinating map (the direct link to the map is in the article). This amazing, animated chart shows the aging of America is from The Washington Post. Does
“The Best Infographics About Parent Involvement In Schools”
The Best Infographics About Parent Involvement In Schools is a new post over at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. You might, or might not, find it helpful….
This Year’s Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup Education Poll Just Released — Here Are Highlights
Every year for the past 45 years, Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup have done a Poll On Education issues. This year’s poll results were just released. You can read a summary and the entire poll results here. I’ll share a few pieces of information that stand-out to me but, first, here are links to my posts about the poll in previous years: The Best Posts/Articles On This Year’s Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup
Labor Day Resources
I’ve just made some new additions to The Best Websites For Learning About Labor Day, which is coming up here in the United States. Feel free to offer more suggestions….
Guest Post: Commentary On New IB Theory Of Knowledge Guide From Author Of Bestselling TOK Textbook
Last week, I published my thoughts on the new IB Theory of Knowledge Guide (see Attention IB Theory Of Knowledge Teachers: How Is The New TOK Guide Going To Affect How You Teach?). I’ve invited a number of other TOK educators to contribute their own thoughts, and Canadian teacher Brad Ovenell-Carter has already contributed a guest post. More are on the way. Today, I feel very lucky to have a guest
I’ll Be Co-Hosting A Combined #engchat & #sschat Next Monday
I hope you’ll join me at a combined #engchat & #sschat next Monday at 7 PM EST. It’s called #engsschat, and the topic will be broad — “Teaching social studies and English to English Language Learners.” Melissa Seideman will be my co-host. Here are some resources on how to participate in a Twitter Chat: How to Participate in a Twitter Chat How to Participate in a Twitter Chat Session Over the
AUG 19
Two Well-Done “Language Maps”
Here are new additions to The Best “Language Maps”: From The U.S. Census: The U.S. Census Bureau today released an interactive, online map pinpointing the wide array of languages spoken in homes across the nation, along with a detailed report on rates of English proficiency and the growing number of speakers of other languages. The 2011 Language Mapper shows where people speaking specific language
More Resources On The March On Washington
Here are two new very thoughtful additions to The Best Resources About The March On Washington: Four ways to beat ‘The Man’ is from CNN. Remembering the March is from USA Weekend.
I’m Now Writing A Weekly Post For The NY Times On Teaching ELLs
As regular readers know, I’ve been writing a monthly column for The New York Times Learning Network on teaching English Language Learners. You can access those previous posts by clicking on the image below. It’s been pretty popular, so they’ve asked me to starting posting one weekly and add an interactive component. They’ll be publishing it every Monday morning. You can see the first one here. Le
AUG 18
Great Illustration On The Shelf-Life Of Knowledge
Here’s a great illustration on the shelf-life of knowledge that’s perfect for IB Theory Of Knowledge classes. I can see using this as a model, and then having students develop their own (along with their justifications). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. By Abstruse Goose
Photo Galleries Of The Week
Obviously, photos can be great educational tools with English Language Learners and with any students (see The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons). I post about many photo galleries, also called slideshows. To do it in a little more organized way, though, I recently began this weekly feature called “Photo Galleries Of The Week.” This post is a “round-up” of online slideshows I’m adding to various
Sacramento Bee Story Today On Impact Of Mexican Drug War On My Students’ Family
Family caught between cartel violence and poverty is a moving story in today’s Sacramento Bee about the impact the Mexican drug war has had on two of my students — Abigali Aguirre (who I’ve been lucky enough to have as a student for the past two years), her sister Ali (who I hope to have in my class this year) and their courageous mother. It brings the impact of Mexico’s drug war beyond the headli
All My Ed Week Posts On Teaching Social Studies In One Place
Q & A Collections: Teaching Social Studies is my newest post at Education Week Teacher. It brings all my social studies-related Ed Week posts together in one place.
AUG 17
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” — August
I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a few and list them here with a minimal description. It forces me to look through these older links, and help me organize them for my own use. I hope others will find them helpful
Videos About About Mexico, Central & South America
I’m adding these videos to The Best Sites For Learning About Mexico, Central & South America:
This Week’s Round-Up Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here are some recent good posts and articles on education policy issues: Critics Blast Away at California Districts’ Waiver is from Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles On The NCLB Waiver Given To Eight California School Districts (Including Ours). College Board Enters Expanding Common-Test Market is from Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning A